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UK's two-tier social care system 'needs urgent reform'

29/01/2008

There is an "urgent" need for a fair and equitable social care system in the UK, a report has concluded today.

The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) says there is currently a system where those who qualify for council support are generally receiving good care while those who fall outside the system have a poor experience and are struggling to cope.

CSCI chair Dame Denise Platt said the two levels of care "contrast starkly" with one another.

People who do not qualify for care, including some younger disabled people and frail older people, are being 'signposted' to voluntary services and many are forced to rely on help from family and informal arrangements.

The social care watchdog says people who are unable to rely on families or friends and are unable to pay for care services are left to cope for themselves, with some becoming virtually trapped in their own home.

Its report also highlights concerns about variations in who is deemed eligible for help – not only between councils but within them.

The CSCI says national eligibility criteria are interpreted in different ways by local staff.

"People who only five years ago qualified for council-arranged help are today excluded by the system and left to fend for themselves," said Dame Denise Platt.

"The poor experiences of people and their carers trying and failing to get sufficient help contrast starkly with those people who do qualify for council arranged care".

CSCI chief inspector Paul Snell welcomed an improvement in the average percentage of national minimum standards met by all care services, but warned that this rate of improvement has slowed.

"Too many services are still not meeting the minimum standards, five years after their introduction," he added.

"Where services show a major shortfall in meeting the standards they will be given specific attention by our new regional enforcement teams."

Responding to the report, Paul Cann from Help the Aged described the social care system as at "breaking point".

"Overstretched and underfunded - today's report demonstrates that the gap between need and provision is rapidly turning into a gulf," he said.

"Social care has become a distress service, helping only those in critical need."

The government is due to publish a green paper on improving social care later this year.